Jerusalem- The Jordanian newspaper Al-Majd this week published allegations by "informed sources" in Ankara that Israeli Mossad operatives attempted to assassinate Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The report also quoted Sedat Laciner, the head of the International Strategic Research Organization, a Turkish think-tank, as stating that Israeli agents have been sighted training Kurdish separatists in Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkish officials have remained silent, hurting the credibility of the Jordanian reports.

 

After several Turkish citizens were killed in clashes with Israeli naval forces aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara, the Turkish government announced its intention to bring up the matter before NATO, of which Turkey is a member.

 

An attempted assassination would constitute an act of war which Turkey would certainly use to invoke the mutual defense provisions of the NATO pact. If the report is accurate than the lack of Turkish reaction to these allegations is out of character given Ankara's swift response to Israel's recent actions in the Mediterranean. Both Iran's Press TV and Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades Information Office both reported the Jordanian report on their websites.

 

Conspiracy theories regarding Israel are rampant in the Arabic media and both Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are currently bestsellers in Arabic.